Found more information about making this syrup:
Summary: There is scientific and industry proof that sucrose is highly effective for creating stable oil/water emulsions.
The food and beverage industry uses different products to create emulsions. An emulsion is a stable combination of incompatible solids and liquids held in suspension. The most familiar is probably salad dressing, which uses emulsifiers to combine oil, water, and vinegar but there are many other everyday products that use emulsions to deliver hydrophobic fats and oils held in suspension in water. The key is using an emulsifier.
1.
http://www.brenntag.ru/en/downloads/Food/TB_Emulsifiers_FNFN201109.pdf
"In commercial food emulsifiers the hydrophilic part can consist of glycerol, sorbitol, sucrose, propylene glycol or polyglycerol." page 2.
Notice that one of these hydrophilic parts is sucrose and on page 4 there is this:
This confirms that one type of emulsifier (surfectant) can be produced using fats, oils, or fatty acids and sucrose. These two combine to create sucrose esters (referred to as E473).
Most interesting to me is that of all the listed emulsifiers in the linked paper, sucrose esters are the most flexible in application:
"Emulsifiers can be characterized by the Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance. The balance is measured on molecular weight and is an indication of the solubility of the emulsifier. The HLB scale varies between 0 and 20.
An emulsifier with a low HLB value is more soluble in oil and promotes water-in-oil emulsions.
An emulsifier with a high HLB value is more soluble in water and promotes oil-in-water emulsions.
The HLB value is a somewhat theoretical value, it only considers water and oil, and food systems are more complicated. But the HLB value of an emulsifier can be used as an indication about its possible use. An indication of performance based on HLB value is given below"
The emulsifier with the highest potential for creating oil/water emulsions is sucrose ester. This is what is being made in the cannabis syrup, an oil/water emulsion. Sucrose esters are more effective then lecithins or glycerin.
2.
PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS
Summary: Use the proper temperature and adequate mixing to achieve the highest stability and highest extract efficiency.
"Optimal emulsifier functionality is determined by the correct food processing conditions. The most important factors are temperature and amount of energy applied in mixing or shearing. Emulsifiers need to be heated above their melting temperature to become functional. High speed mixing or homogenisation is needed to decrease droplet or air bubble size and get the emulsifiers distributed on the surface of the interface. Mixing is also needed to hydrate the emulsifier." page 7
This next link has more about processing:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268005X11000397
It is only the abstract but the information provides the basics needed to improve this recipe. Here are selected quotes:
"This study provides important information for optimizing the application of sucrose monoesters to form colloidal dispersions in food and beverage products."
"This study aimed to establish conditions where stable microemulsions, nanoemulsions or emulsions could be fabricated using SMP as a surfactant and lemon oil as an oil phase."
"Blending/heating was needed to produce microemulsions or emulsions, whereas blending/heating/homogenization was needed to produce nanoemulsions."
"The impact of environmental stresses (pH, ionic strength, temperature) on the functional performance of nanoemulsions and microemulsions was examined. Relatively stable nanoemulsions could be formed at pH 6 and 7 and stable microemulsions at pH 5 and 6, but extensive particle growth/aggregation occurred at lower and higher pH values."
"Microemulsions formed gels at low temperatures (5 °C), were stable at ambient temperatures (23 °C), and exhibited particle growth at elevated temperatures (40 °C)."
"Nanoemulsions were stable at refrigerator (5 °C) and ambient (23 °C) temperatures, but exhibited coalescence at elevated temperatures (40 °C)."
If I get the time, I may give it a try.